Privacy notice – early years and childcare

North Somerset Council is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for the purposes of processing personal data.

Our early years and childcare service is wide ranging. It includes offering  information, advice and training to early years and childcare providers in North Somerset:

• to improve the quality of provision for identified providers
• to promote high quality provision to meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage
• to promote high quality provision to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and vulnerable and disadvantaged children
• to promote high quality provision to effectively safeguard and protect children from harm

In addition the early years and childcare service must collect information in order to:

• secure sufficient childcare places
• provide information to parents
• carry out all moderation and monitoring for EYFSP, Year 1 Phonics, KS1 and KS2 national curriculum

The legislative reasons for collecting information from early years and childcare providers are included in the following documents which outline where local authorities have duties placed on them.

• Childcare Act 2006 (Sections 6,7,7A,9A,12,13)
• Childcare Act 2016 (Section 2) Chapter 21
• Education Act 2002 (Section 87)
• Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities Department for Education (March 2018)
• Early Years Entitlements: Local Authority Funding of Providers, Operational Guide 2018 to 2019 (Education and Skills Funding Agency: February 2018);
• Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (Department for Education and Department of Health, January 2015)
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government, July 2018)
• Assessment and Reporting Arrangements ARA (Moderation and Monitoring for National Curriculum EYFSP, Year 1 Phonics, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2) Standards and Testing Agency (updated annually).

The duties involve the following key areas:

• funded childcare places for two, three and four year olds (eligibility, flexibility, quality, funding places)
• securing sufficient childcare
• information to parents
• information to childcare providers
• moderation and monitoring for the national curriculum: EYFSP, Year 1 Phonics, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2

The information you provide will be held and used in accordance with the requirements of the UK and European data protection law. The information will form part of your early years and childcare service record and will be held according to the corporate retention schedule. Retention periods vary according to the type of information held. Retention information is available from the Data Protection Officer at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk

We will collect information about your early years and childcare setting, the provision you offer and the children that attend in order to carry out our legislative duties. Unless otherwise agreed with you, we will only collect the minimum personal data required to deliver the service. Specific data will need to be collected to administer each of the different duties outlined above. Examples of data could include your name, the name of your setting and childcare services it provides, staff details and job roles, attendance at training, visit notes and professional dialogue, financial information for funding streams.

Specific children’s data collection for LINK programme, inclusion support and MAISEY (Multi-Agency Information and Support in the Early Years) are detailed in additional privacy notices available on the North Somerset Council’s website.

The processing of this information is lawful as it is necessary to protect the vital interests of a living person. (GDPR Article 6(1)(d) and Article 9(2)(c))

The information you provide will be held and used in accordance with the requirements of UK and European data protection law.

The information will be used to carry out statutory and recommended duties of the local authority in relation to early years and childcare providers.

Failure to provide the information could result in your childcare setting not being able to access the support you may require to carry out your legislative duties within the early years foundation stage.

The information you provide may be shared with other agencies within North Somerset in order to carry out our legislative duties. In addition, we may share information with Ofsted, Care Quality Commission, Department for Education, Standards and Testing Agency and other organisations that have a legitimate reason to access this data.

In addition data may be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of local authority services, particularly in the areas where local authorities undergo inspections and reviews, such as safeguarding and meeting the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

We may lawfully disclose information to public sector agencies to prevent or detect fraud or other crime, or to support the national fraud initiatives and protect public funds under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Under the conditions of the Digital Economy Act 2017, we may also share personal data provided to us with other public authorities as defined in the Act, for the purposes of fraud or crime detection or prevention, to recover monies owed to us, to improve public service delivery, or for statistical research.

We do not share the information with other organisations for commercial purposes.

Your data is never shared or processed outside of the UK.

We will not use your personal information in a way that may cause you unwarranted nuisance.

You have the right to see the personal data we process about you, as well as the right of rectification, and restriction (to destruction of records only).  

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we process your personal data, contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk.